Famous italian fashion designers of all time-part 1

Dec

Famous italian fashion designers of all time-part 1

In a time that internet is being blocked by Victoria’s Secret fashion shows , Milan Design Agenda made the decision to skip that part and focus in what Italy is known worldwide. Today, we make a bow to the greatest and most famous italian fashion designers of all time! Once those italian fashion designers can’t be measured in one single post, Milan Design Agenda decided to split in 2…or 3!

Hope we like it of the first part!

Dolce & Gabbana

The Sicilian italian fashion designers duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have parlayed a dreamy Mediterranean aesthetic into a billion dollar global luxury fashion brand. The duo first met when Dolce called the fashion house that Gabbana worked for at the time. Gabbana became a mentor of sorts to Dolce, and when Gabbana returned from his mandatory military tour, the two launched a design consultancy together and eventually started ‘Dolce and Gabbana’.

Their runway debut came in 1985 at Milan Fashion Week, where they were referred to as ‘the boys’ for their youth and exuberance. Slowly, the pair launched other product lines, including knitwear and accessories, and gained notoriety particularly for their sensual dresses and menswear, which won them the 1991 Woolmark Prize. In the early 1990s, Madonna selected them as her costume designers for her Girlie world tour, and wore one of their jewel-encrusted corsets to the Cannes Film Festival.

Versace

Having been at the helm of the Versace empire as creative director since 1997, Donatella Versace has overseen the growth of the group’s luxury clothing lines alongside the expansion into accessories, home furnishings and hotels, creating a luxury lifestyle brand which at the end of 2012 reported revenues of €408.7 million!! This make her one of the most important female italian designers!

The youngest of Versace siblings, Donatella became the natural sucessor of her brother Gianni after his tragic death in1997. Ms Versace debuted her first collection for Atelier spring/summer ’98 on a see-through catwalk held over the swimming pool at the Ritz Hotel in Paris which resulted in instant acclaim from industry insiders. In 2008 Versace was appointed as an honorary chair of London’s Fashion Fringe initiative founded by acclaimed journalist Colin McDowell

Giorgio Armani

Italian designer Giorgio Armani boasts an illustrious career, spanning over 35 years within the fashion industry. Having launched his namesake label in 1975, the celebrated designer has overseen the growth of his brand into from a signature menswear label to a luxury fashion empire including Giorgio Armani Privé and Emporio Armani apparel lines alongside accessories, footwear, cosmetics and home decor.

Mr Armani is the sole shareholder of Giorgio Armani S.p.A, making it one of the few leading famous Italian fashion designers brands to remain independent from international investment vehicles, overseeing a retail distribution chain of over 500 stand-alone stores around the world. Placed in an infirmary in Verona, Armani began to look for a different career path and soon after secured a position as a window dresser for La Rinascente, a prominent department store in Milan.

Miuccia Prada

The youngest daughter of Mario Prada, Miuccia Prada has transformed her family’s modest leather goods house into one of fashion’s ready to wear powerhouses. Prada is now the flagship brand of the publicly listed Prada Group, which includes Miu Miu and shoe makers Church’s and Car Shoe.

After some encouragement of her husband Patrizio Bertelli, Prada debuted her womenswear line in 1988, which she described as “uniforms for the slightly disenfranchised.” She would add Miu Miu, a secondary line, which now shows in Paris and has become a power brand in its own right. In 1995 Prada released her first menswear line.

Mrs Prada was awarded the CFDA International Designer Award in 2004.

Missoni

Angela Missoni, the creative director of Missoni, her family’s beloved knitwear brand, which has been popular since her parents started creating their psychedelic patterns and multi-coloured zigzag knitwear.

After a few seasons at her own label, she took over from her mother as creative director of Missoni, debuting her first line for the label in 1997. Her designs and attitudes reinvigorated the label and placed it back in the fashion zeitgeist, marking the start of a period of commercial success lasting well over a decade. Missoni’s designs and her further development of the brand, along with the accompanying press, largely enabled the company’s expansion into the hotel industry and lucrative collaborations with companies such as San Pellegrino and Target.

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